Families Of Japanese Abducted By North Korea Hope For Help From Trump : ParallelsIn Tokyo, Trump met relatives of Japanese citizens taken by North Korea in the 1970s. A handful have been freed over the years, but families are divided over the best way to gain release of the rest.

And during his time in Tokyo, President Trump also highlighted a dark moment in Japan's history. In the 1970's, North Korea abducted at least a dozen Japanese citizens and took them to Pyongyang to train North Korean spies. NPR's Elise Hu reports that some 40 years later, family members who are still hoping for their return find themselves in the middle of a geopolitical tug of war.

ELISE HU, BYLINE: When ordinary Japanese began disappearing, it left a mystery and family members behind. Koichiro Iizuka was a toddler when his mom dropped him off at day care and never returned.

KOICHIRO IIZUKA: (Through interpreter) I'm turning 40 this year, and for 39 years, I haven't seen my mother. I have no memory of my mother.

HU: In 2002, North Korea admitted it operated a state-sponsored abduction program and confirmed it had taken Iizuka's mother and at least a dozen other Japanese citizens.

IIZUKA: (Through interpreter) I understand that for people who aren't familiar with the issue, it is an abnormal, unbelievable situation. It was like that for me at the beginning.

HU: The Japanese abductees were mostly young people. They were taken to North Korea and forced to teach North Korean spies Japanese customs and language so those spies could then more easily infiltrate Japan. North Korea has also kidnapped South Koreans, Europeans and Southeast Asians for the same purposes.

NAGY: Where I think it's more sensitive in the Japanese case, is the Japanese nationals have a sense of we're all Japanese. The Japanese expression is (speaking Japanese) and that when a Japanese is not brought home to the homeland and not put in the ancestral grave, that there's a sense of detachment, a sense of amputation.

HU: Iizuka still believes his mom is alive and continues pushing for her return, pressing the issue with a succession of U.S. presidents, including Donald Trump today.

IIZUKA: (Through interpreter) We are speaking to the most influential figure in the world. And we ask him to speak on the behalf of Japan and put pressure directly on Kim Jong Un for us. That is our hope.

HU: But because tensions are running so high with North Korea, other relatives of abductees aren't feeling so hopeful.

Hello.

TORU HASUIKE: Hi.

HU: Toru Hasuike's brother was also taken in the 1970s but is one of the handful of kidnap victims that North Korea actually returned. He says his brother is living in freedom now. But because so many other Japanese are still held, he still acts like a hostage.

HASUIKE: (Through interpreter) There are these people who haven't come back, and he has to think about them and what will happen to them and how his actions will affect them. And so he is not mentally free. He is carrying them on his back until they all come back.

HU: Hasuike advocates direct talks with North Korea instead of economic and military pressure.

HASUIKE: (Through translator) I'd say, don't get in a war with these people. Negotiate.

HU: Latest moves by Japanese and U.S. governments are going in the opposite direction. Communications have gone cold after numerous nuclear provocations. And Stephen Nagy says the situation has opened up factions within the abductees' families. Is ratcheting up pressure on the north going to get their loved ones home, or is diplomatic engagement the safer route?

NAGY: Politicians have instrumentalized the kidnapped victims in many different ways. And I think there's an interaction here between international politics and domestic politics in both countries.

HU: Some 40 years since the Japanese were kidnapped, Iizuka, whose mom is still missing, says time is working against them.

IIZUKA: (Through interpreter) The only resolution to this is to have the abductees return to our country. That has not happened. This issue is all or nothing.

HU: He and the other relatives don't agree on policy, but they do agree on their goal. Elise Hu, NPR News, Tokyo.

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